Family Devastated After Hospital Remove Toddler From Life Support Against Wishes

A family has been left in shock after their 2-year-old son died after being removed from life support against their wishes, according to several reports.

On Thursday afternoon, 2-year-old Israel Stinson was removed from a breathing ventilator at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles after a judge upheld the hospital’s decision to remove life support, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Now, the toddler’s parents, Jonee Fonseca and Nathaniel Stinson, are left “devastated,” as expressed by Alexandra Snyder, an attorney with the Life Legal Defense Foundation, a pro-life group representing Israel’s family pro bono.

“I was on the phone with his mother when the doctors disconnected him,” Snyder said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “They were in such a hurry to do it, they didn’t even sit down and explain what was going on.”

This tragic battle started in April, when Israel suffered a brain injury following an asthma-related cardiac arrest at UC Davis Medical Center, the Sacramento Bee reported.

While doctors were able to restart his heart, he reportedly went about an hour without oxygen and doctors determined he was brain dead, according to Los Angeles Times reported.

Doctors at the Sacramento hospital advised that Israel be removed from life support and to perform operations to insert feeding and breathing tubes, but Israel’s parents reportedly refused to comply.

They went to court and asked to keep their son on life support and – hopefully – recover.

Some health professionals argue that providing intensive care for children like Israel costs thousands of dollars per day, and inhibits hospitals from helping other critically ill children who could benefit from the resources, according to the Los Angeles Times.

He was checked into the hospital on Aug. 8, according to the Los Angeles Times. But soon after he was admitted, the hospital said Israel was brain dead and needed to be taken off life support.

Snyder told CBS more about the heart-breaking end of this months-long battle to keep Israel alive.

“They are devastated,” she said. “I think still in shock. It’s not even my child; I am still in shock this could happen so quickly. … That is something every family has to decide for themselves, not a choice that should be imposed upon somebody.”